1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable baby carriage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various foldable baby carriages for carrying a baby when taking the baby outdoors for walking or shopping have been proposed. When necessary, the foldable baby carriage are folded for easy storage and carrying.
FIG. 8 shows the foldable baby carriage in a perspective view. The baby carriage includes right and left front legs 12 each provided with a front wheel 11, right and left rear legs 14 each provided with a rear wheel 13, a substantially U-shaped handle 15, right and left armrests 16, and a guard arm 17 detachably connected to and extended between the armrests 16. Rear ends of the armrests 16 are pivotally joined to parts of right and left pipes 18 forming the handle 15 near the lower ends of the pipes 18. The upper ends of the rear legs 14 are pivotally joined to the middle parts of the armrests 16. Lower ends of generally L-shaped brackets 19 are pivotally joined to middle parts of the rear legs 14. The lower ends of the right and left pipes 18 are pivotally joined to middle parts of the brackets 19. When the baby carriage is developed, locking members 20 slidably mounted on lower end parts of the pipes 18 engage with locking parts formed in upper end parts of the brackets 19 to lock the baby carriage in an expanded state.
The right and left front legs 12 are connected by a front connecting rod 21, and the right and left rear legs 14 are connected by a rear connecting rod 22. A side connecting rod 23 has a front end pivotally joined to a middle part of each front leg 12, and a rear end pivotally joined together with the bracket 19 to the lower end of the pipes 18. Middle part of the right and left connecting rods 23 are connected by an upper connecting rod 24.
As shown in FIG. 8, the baby carriage is locked in the developed state for use by bringing the locking members 20 mounted on the lower ends of the pipes 18 into engagement with locking parts formed in the upper end parts of the brackets 19. When the locking members 20 are disengaged from the brackets 19 by operating an operating system arranged on the handle 15, the armrests 16 and the side connecting rods 23 can be turned upward about pivotal joining points where the armrests 16 and the side connecting rods 23 are pivotally joined to the vertical sections so that the front legs 12 and the rear legs 14 become substantially parallel to each other, whereby the baby carriage is folded in a package easy to carry.
The handle 15, the front connecting rod 21, the rear connecting rod 22, and the upper connecting rod 24 are provided in their middle parts with right and left joints and are foldable. The right joints of the handle 15, the front connecting rod 21, the rear connecting rod 22, and the upper connecting rod 24 are in a right vertical plane, and the left joints of the same are in a left vertical plane. When the left and right pipes 18 are moved forward after folding the front legs 12 and the rear legs 14 in parallel to each other, opposite end portions of the handle 15, the same portions of the front connecting rod 21, the same portions of the rear connecting rod 22 and the same portions of the upper connecting rod 24 are turned forward and the baby carriage can be folded in a compact package as shown in FIG. 9; that is, the baby carriage can be folded in three.
Although the front legs 12 and the rear legs 14 are somewhat raised with respect to the handle 15 by the upward swing of the armrests 16 at the folding operation of the baby carriage, the height of the folded baby carriage is not reduced so much. Furthermore, the above-mentioned folding structure requires the large armrests having the front legs and the rear legs pivotally connected thereto and the brackets for connecting the rear legs to the handle pipes pivotally, causing the number of components to be increased costly.
Under the above-mentioned situation, the object of the present invention is to provide a baby carriage which allows a number of components thereof and its height to be together reduced in comparison with those of the conventional baby carriage mentioned above.
The first feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a baby carriage comprising a pair of front legs each provided, at a lower end thereof, with a front wheel; a pair of rear legs each provided, at a lower end thereof, with a rear wheel; a pair of side connecting rods each having one end thereof rotatably connected to a middle part of the front leg and the other end rotatably connected to a middle part of the rear leg; a pair of handle bars having respective middle parts thereof rotatably connected to upper parts of the rear legs respectively; and a pair of locking mechanisms connecting lower ends of the handle bars with upper ends of the front legs respectively; wherein each of the locking mechanisms is adapted so as to be in a fixing state where the handle bar is fixed with respect to the front leg substantially along an extending direction thereof and also in a folding state where the handle bar is folded close to the front leg.
According to the second feature of the invention, the front legs, the rear legs, the side connecting rods and the handle bars are juxtaposed with each other in the folding state of the locking mechanisms.
According to the third feature of the invention, each of the locking mechanisms includes an engagement recess provided in either one of the front leg and the handle bar and an engagement projection provided in the other of the front leg and the handle bar, for engaging with the engagement recess.
According to the fourth feature of the invention, the engagement recess is provided in the front leg, while the engagement projection is provided in the handle bar.
According to the fifth feature of the invention, each of the locking mechanisms further includes an urging unit for urging the engagement projection toward the engagement recess.
According to the sixth feature of the invention, each of the locking mechanisms further includes an unlocking member which is associated with the engagement projection and which is operable from its outside to allow the engagement projection to be separated from the engagement recess against an urging force of the urging unit thereby releasing the locked engagement projection.
According to the seventh feature of the invention, the unlocking member is arranged on the handle bar, between a connecting part of the handle bar with the front leg and another connecting part of the handle bar with the rear leg.
According to the eighth feature of the invention, each of the locking mechanisms is provided with a bracket used as an armrest.
According to the ninth feature of the invention, the baby carriage further comprises a front-leg connecting rod arranged between the pair of front legs; a rear-leg connecting rod arranged between the pair of rear legs; an upper connecting rod arranged between the pair of side connecting rods; and a handle part arranged between the pair of handle bars.
According to the tenth feature of the invention, the front-leg connecting rod, the rear-leg connecting rod, the upper connecting rod and the handle part are respectively adapted so as to be in a substantially identical plane in the folding state.
According to the eleventh feature of the invention, the front-leg connecting rod, the rear-leg connecting rod, the upper connecting rod and the handle part, each have respective two hinges formed in two places on left and right sides thereof. The hinges of the front-leg connecting rod are rotatable about a rotating axis substantially parallel to with the front legs. The hinges of the rear-leg connecting rod are also rotatable about a rotating axis substantially parallel to with the rear legs. The hinges of the upper connecting rod are rotatable about a rotating axis substantially parallel to the side connecting rods. The hinges of the handle part are also rotatable about a rotating axis substantially parallel to the handle bars. With this structures of these hinges, the front leg, the rear leg, the side connecting rod and the handle bar on the left side and the other front leg, the other rear leg, the other side connecting rod and the other handle bar on the right side can be further folded forward, subsequently to the folding state.